September 13, 2026
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Lagers with the Lord Monday, September 14, 6 pm at Buckshot’s.
Get Your Trinity Umbrella! The Women of Trinity are selling Trinity Umbrella’s for $20 with all proceeds going to the Parsonage Fund. Pick them up at the church.
The Crew begins on September 16th for all 3rd-6th grade youth from 3:30 pm till 5 pm! Snack, Game, Faith Time, and Music. All are welcome! Want to help? We appreciate having adults help in the kitchen and provide extra supervision during group time. Just talk to PB if you would like to help!
Crew Snacks Sign-up for serve Crew Snacks. We need snacks for around 50 youth and you can bring anything you want. You do not need to serve the snacks, just bring them here by 3 pm. Sign-up on the table in the Narthex or call the church office at 715-643-3821.
You can use Venmo to make your gift to Trinity! You can find us using: @TrinityLutheranBoyceville. If it asks you for a phone number, use 1349
MUSINGS FROM PASTOR BRAD
As we started to get very serious about packing things up in the old house and get ready for the move, we started to move stuff. We got rid of our dining room table. We cleaned and then rolled up our rugs. Things went off the walls and stuff was being boxed up. In the midst of that, we started to notice something with our dog Baxter. Every now and again, he would have almost panic attacks, especially when he got worked up. And we figured out why: his safe places were now gone. He liked to hide behind the dining room table but it wasn’t there anymore, replaced with boxes. The carpets he rolled on for comfort were gone. Everything was changing around him, despite it being his home. He would calm down after a bit of snuggling, but it was obvious all the changes, and the loss of his spaces, was affecting him.
We have now moved into the new house, though it is isn’t yet completed. We have no cabinets. No bathroom sinks, no stove or fridge or dishwasher. I’m happy to say it looks like that hopefully by the end of this week that will all change. Being in an entirely new place has been an adjustment for Baxter. New routines, and though many things are back, like his rugs, they are in new places and still with unsettled things around them. There is a new yard to go into and a new routine to going outside. We are also doing new routines, as with two full bathrooms our morning routines are different, bedrooms are different and more. We got him some stuff to help him calm down and he is starting to adjust (Daphne, by the way, is just fine. She just needs a human lap, any human lap, and the world is all rainbows and unicorns). I have no doubt in a week or two he will be fully settled as we get fully settled.
But I found out something about myself as we moved into the new house this past Tuesday. I realized it two days later on Thursday when I was having a hard time getting relaxed when I got home, this new home: I need a settled place too. Sure, my clothes were in there places and the furniture was in its place in my room, but not much else was done in my room. We were using a sink made out of sawhorses and using a small beer fridge as our fridge. We were still searching for things and even worse, I was swamped with work. Funeral. All day Confirmation retreat I was teaching at Luther Park coming up. Confirmation starting. Five hour Luther Park board meeting (and other meetings). Youth meeting coming and youth presentation that needed to be finished. Crew around the corner, Lagers with the Lord to finish, sermons to write, and on and on, besides working a football game. I realized that my life can be chaos and that I need a settled place, kind of like Baxter. That home is that settled place where the world slows down (even if I come home and start immediately working again, which is what I did a few nights this week).
But without things settled, I was unmoored a bit. I was also out of routine. Now working out in the morning, instead trying to find boxes to unpack so I could feel more settled. Forgetting to take medication at night because I don’t quite have the spot for it yet and remembering in the middle of the night. Dealing with a restless dog who couldn’t get settled like me.
But, as I got home last night from teaching all day, with a shredded voice, tired feet, and a weary spirit, I found I was able to start to relax. Was it because I had more stuff unpacked in my room? Was it because Amy had done a lot of unpacking while I was gone? Was it just time and getting more used to the house? Probably all three. But I was also reminded that in the chaos of life, we have a home in our loving God. I was reminded of Psalm 46:1, “God is our refuge and strength.” God is our home in the midst of the chaos of life and when we need a settled place. And I think of how the Lord has seen us through the chaos of moving and getting everything in, despite all that isn’t there right now, in the midst of work and everything else. I think of all the people that helped to make it happen so we can even be in the house and not in a hotel. I think of the love of Amy and the dogs that always provide comfort when life seems to be going out of control.
Because not only is the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ our refuge and strength, the Lord brings people into our lives to be those safe spaces for us, to make us feel at home, even when we aren’t in a physical “home.” We all have people we can turn to that help settle us down, like how we settle down Baxter, that reminds us that everything will be ok.
The new house will soon feel like home. Baxter will soon adjust and find all of his safe spaces. And in our life, when the chaos swirls and we need that place to feel like home, never forget that your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is there for you and brings people in your life to be a safe space for you. May God bless you today and always!